in. But she did not move--save
with her hand to push the folds of sailcloth a cautious inch or two away
from the opening. It did not ease the agony she was suffering from
her cramped position, but it gave her fresher air, and she could hear
better--the ring of their boot-heels on the wharf above, for instance.

The footsteps died away. There was silence then for a moment; and then,
faintly, from the direction of the shed, there came a chorus of baffled
rage and execration. She smiled a little wearily to herself. It was all
right. That was what she wanted to know. The Adventurer had got away.

Still she lay there. She dared not leave the boat yet; but she could
change her position now. She crawled half out from under the docking,
and lay with her head on the sailcloth. It was exquisite relief! They
could not come back along the wharf without her hearing them, and she
could retreat under the decking again in an instant, if necessary.

Voices reached her now occasionally from the direction of the shed.
Finally a silence fell. The minutes passed--ten--fifteen--twenty of
them. And then Rhoda Gray climbed warily to the wharf, made her way
warily past the shed, and gained the road--and three-quarters of an hour
later, in another shed, in the lane behind the garret, she was changing
quickly into the rags of Gypsy Nan again.

It was almost the end now. To-night, she would keep the appointment
Danglar had given her--and keep it ahead of time. It was almost the end.
Her lips set tightly. The Adventurer had been warned. There was nothing
now to stand in the way of her going to the police, save only the
substantiation of that one point in her own story which Danglar must
supply.

Her transformation completed, she reached in under the flooring and
took out the package of jewels--they would help very materially when she
faced Danglar!--and, though it was somewhat large, tucked it inside
her blouse. It could not be noticed. The black, greasy shawl hid it
effectively.

She stepped out into the lane, and from there to the street, and began
to make her way across town. She did not have to search for Danglar
to-night. She was to meet him at Matty's at midnight, and it was not
more than halfpast eleven now. Three hours and a half! Was that all
since at eight o'clock, as nearly as she could place it, he had left
her in the lane? It seemed as many years; but it was only twenty minutes
after eleven, she had noticed, when she had left the